Attaching apparatus for slide fastener elements



April 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER 3,244,129

ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11,1960 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTQR.

BY ARTHUR sm/veez'iaw/z mwww A ril 5, 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER ATTACHINGAPPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11. 1960 4Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2.

April 5, 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER 3,244,129

ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11,1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR. ARTHUR SIZWGRflB VER BY 142W and BMWApril 5, 1966 v A. STEINGRUEBNER, 3,244,129

ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11.1960 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ARTHUR STEINGRUB'NER BY WW 5am sewing machine.

United States Patent 3,244,129 ATTACHING APPARATUS FUR SLIDE FASTENERELEMENTS Arthur Steingriiebncr, Bonn, Germany, assignor to WahlBrothers, New York, N.Y., a partnership Original application July 11,1960, Ser. No. 42,035, now Patent No. 3,158,118, dated Nov. 24, 1964.Divided and this application Oct. 2, 1963, Ser. No. 318,470 Claimspriority, application Germany, July 14, 1959, r; 54,003 13 Claims. (Cl.1122) This is a division of application Serial No. 42,035, filed July11, 1960, now Patent No. 3,158,118.

This invention relates to the manufacture of slide fasteners, and moreparticularlyto a device for producing a slide fastener chain having acontinuous elongated carrier, such as a tape, and a plurality oflongitudinally spaced rows of interlocking elements secured to thecarrier.

The preferred type of slide fastener for many applications consists oftwo lengths of elongated carriers, such as tapes of textile material,arranged side by side and connected by two rows of interlocked elementsrespectively secured to the carriers. The element rows are shorter thanthe lengths of tape to which they are secured so as to provide free tapeends which facilitate sewing of the slide fastener into a garment andthe like.

Fastener chain having on each tape successive interlocking elementswhich are integral portions of a single piece of material, such as asuitably shaped metal wire or plastic filament has found wide acceptancerecently.

1 It is common practice to shape the wire or filament into a row ofinterlocking elements and then to attach the row of elements to a tapeby sewing on a suitably adapted In the usual modified sewing machineemployed, continuous strands of interlocking elements are sewn tocontinuous lengths of carriers to produce a continuous chain from whichindividual fastener lengths are then cut.

If free tape ends are desired, it is necessary to remove the twoterminal portions of the row of slide fastener elements from the cutchain length. This additional removal operation is costly in itself andnecessitates the loss of substantial amounts of fastener elementmaterial. In a slide fastener having a 7" row of fastener elements inthe finished condition and 1" free ends at either end, the loss offastener element material amounts to 22% of the total material employed.The cut-away fastener elements are practically useless and without valueas scrap material.

A primary object of this invention is to improve the manufacture ofslide fastener chain having free tape ends at each fastener end.

Another object is the provision of a device for attaching interlockingslide fastener elements to tape which avoids the removal operation offastener elements for the purpose of making fastener lengths with freetape ends.

An additional object is to avoid the material losses inherent in theremoval operation referred to above.

With these and other objects in view, the invention provides a devicewhich includes asewing station and separate feeding means forcontinuously feeding a continuous carrier toward the sewing station, andfor feeding strands of slide fastener elements to the sewing stationalong a predetermined path. The fastener element feeding means of theinvention includes a feed dog arranged at a distance from the sewingstation, and a cutter between the feed dog and the sewing station. Thefeed dog can be moved into the path of the fastener elements forengagement therewith, and hence along the path to, advance the elementstoward the sewing station, and can then be withdrawn. The cutter also ismoved into and out of the 3,244,129 Patented Apr. 5, 1966 path of theelements to cut a continuous strand of fastener elements into discretelengths.

Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which like referencenumerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a double-needle chain stitch sewingmachine modified for the purpose of the invention, with parts of thesewing machine broken away to show operating elements of the device ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 shows a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in front-elevationalsectional view on line IIII;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, partially sectional view of the apparatus ofFIG. 1, the section being taken on line IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of details of the apparatus of FIG. 1 withportions of the apparatus removed to reveal the operating elements ofthe invention; and

FIG. 5 shows the apparatus of FIG. 4 in a different operating position.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. 1, thereis shown a double-needle chain stitch sewing machine of generallyconventional type and illustrated only to the extent necessary forexplaining the present invention. Although many internal working partsof the sewing machine have not been shown explicitly, it will beunderstood that the sewing machine includes a source of power foractuating sewing movement, and a power transmission train fortransmitting motion to the several working parts in a synchronizedmanner.

The sewing machine has a head 1 which includes a horizontally extendingarm 2 on the free end of which a neede bar 3 is mounted forreciprocating vertical movement. The bottom end of the needle bar 3 isequipped with a needle holder 4 to which two needles 5 and 6 arefastened in side by side arrangement for producing two parallel seams.

As is customary in chain stitch sewing machines, two threads are fed toeach needle in the direction of the arrow 7. The needles 5, 6 receiverespective first threads 8, 9 from tension discs 10, 11 to which theyare led by thread guides 12, 13 and eyes 14, 15 from respective supplyspools 16, 17. Second threads 18, 19 are passed to the needles 5, 6 froma thread take-up 20 and a common tension disc 21. The second threads aredrawn from respective thread spools 28, 29 through thread guides 24, 25,26, 27 and over idler guide pulleys 22, 23. The eyes 14, 15 and thespools 16, 17, 28 and 29 are mounted on spool pins 30, 31 in the usualmanner.

The arm 2 of the sewing machine head 1 is equipped with two integralbrackets 32, 33 on which storage drums 34 and 35 for slide fastenertapes 37 and 36 are rotatable. The tapes 36, 37 are led downwardly fromthe spools 34, 35 and through a slot between a throat plate 38 and a bedplate 39 of the sewing machine. They leave the sewing area with fastenerelements 43 attached thereto to form a finished chain which is thendelivered from the sewing machine by a pair of pinch rolls of which onlythe upper roll 91 is visible in FIG. 1.

The fastener elements 43 are drawn toward the sewing area from a storagedrum 40 which is rotatable about a horizontal axis between two brackets41 and 42 mounted on the base housing of the head 1. The fastenerelements 43 form two interlocked continuous strands.

The base housing holds the stitch forming elements which cooperate withthe needles 5, 6 to form chain stitches which attach the slide fastenerelements 43 to the tapes 36, 37. Since these stitch forming elements arewell known in themselves, they have been omitted from the drawing, and amore detailed explanation thereof is not necessary for an understandingof this invention.

A portion of the sewing machine base has been broken away to showelements of the motion transmitting train which actuates movement of theupper pinch roll 91 and of other parts of the mechanism. A sprocket 79is connected to the main drive of the sewing machine by means of theshaft 85 for continuous rotation. As will be shown in more detailhereinafter, a chain 87 transmits movement of the sprocket 79 to asprocket 88 which is fixedly fastened on a common shaft 89 with thepinch roll 91. The shaft 89 is supported in a pillow block 90 on the bedof the head 1.

The shaft 85 has an integral crank shaft extension 77 journaled in astandard 78 in the base housing of the sewing head 1. A long crank pin75 is eccentrically mounted on the shaft 77 by means of a crank web 76for actuating intermittent feeding of slide fastener elements toward thesewing area as will be more readily apparent hereinbelow.

FIG. 2 shows the base housing of the sewing machine 1 in frontelevational section to reveal the mechanism for feeding strands of slidefastener elements 43 to the sewing area. The throat plate 38 and bedplate 39 are mounted super-imposed on the cover 47 of the housing and acontinuous strand of two interlocked rows of slide fastener elements 43is being drawn toward the sewing area from the storage drum 40 which isseen to be mounted on the sidewall 58 of the housing by means of thebracket 42. The sewing area is indicated by vertical openings 44 and 45in the throat plate 38 and the bed plate 39 respectively through whichthe needles and 6 move up and down in the usual manner.

The fastener elements 43 are guided toward the sewing area by a guidegroove or channel 46 in the bed plate 39 which extends between the drum40 and the openings 44, 45. The cover 47 has a recess 48 at the bottomof the groove 46 which accommodates a feed dog 49 having teeth which canbe moved up and down through the recess 48 transversely into and out ofthe groove 46, and longitudinally of the groove in a direction towardthe sewing area. The teeth are adapted to engage the elements 43.

The feed dog 49 is mounted on a link 50, one end of which is rotatablysecured to the crank pin 75 (see FIG. 1) for movement in a circular pathparallel to the plane of FIG. 2. The other end of the link 50 is hingedby means of a pin 51 to a plunger 53. The pin 51 engages a longitudinalslot 52 in the plunger 53 to permit longitudinal movement of the link 50relative to the plunger 53. The plunger 53 is guided for free verticalmovement in the base housing of the head 1 by a guide cylinder 54 whichis fixedly secured to the housing bottom 67.

The plunger 53 carries a laterally projecting cam follower 55 whichcooperates with a cam disc 56 to actuate vertical reciprocating movementof the plunger 53. The cam disc 56 is rotated by a motion transmittingsprocket 57 to which it is fixedly fastened and which is rotatablymounted on the housing sidewall 58.

A pin 64 on the plunger 53 transmits the movement of the latter to oneend of a lever 65. The center of the lever is supported on a column 68by means of a pin 66 which passes through an elongated opening in thelever 65. The other end of the lever 65 is formed with a longitudinallyelongated opening for passage of a pin 69 in a cutting block 70. Theblock 70 carries a cutting blade 71 and is slidably retained in a guidechannel 72 integral with the base housing cover 47 and having itsorifice in the groove 46.

The synchronized drive arrangement for the feed dog 49 and the cuttingblade 71 is best seen from FIG. 3 which shows the relevant portion ofthe device illustrated in FIG. 2 in plan view. The sprocket 57 isintermittently rotated by a timing chain 59 which is trained over anidler 57 adjacent the sprocket 57 and a sprocket rotatably mounted onthe sidewall 58 of the base housing. The sprocket 60 rotatescontinuously and is driven from the main drive of the sewing machine bya pair of bevel gears 61 driven by a shaft 62 which is supported in thehousing by a pillow block 63. The continuous movement of the sprocket 60is imparted to the chain 59, but is transmitted only intermittently tothe sprocket 57 by driving dogs 94 on the chain 59 which extend radiallyoutward from the idler 57 when passing over the latter and engage therecesses between the teeth of the sprocket 57. While only a single dog94 has been shown in FIG. 3 for the sake of clarity, it will beunderstood that the chain carries as many spaced dogs 94 as are requiredto impart the desired movement to the plunger 53, to the teeth 73 of thefeed dog 49, and to the cutting blade 71.

The elements transmitting the movement of the shaft 85 to the pinch roll91 are seen more clearly in FIG. 3 than in FIG. 1. A chain 80 is trainedover the sprocket 79 on the shaft 35 and over a sprocket 81 which isrotatably mounted on the base housing by means of two brackets 82, 83 ona shaft 84 to which the sprocket 81 and a sprocket 86 are fixedlyfastened. The sprocket 86 which is obscured in FIG. 1 drives the chain87, and thus the pinch roll 91. The lower pinch roll 92 is driven byfriction with the finished fastener chain 93 as it passes between thepinch rolls as seen in FIG. 2.

A locking arm 74 is attached to the bed plate 39 for cooperation withthe teeth 73 of the feed dog 49 as is seen in FIG. 5. The teeth areomitted from FIG. 4 for the sake of clarity.

The operation of the aforedescribed device is best understood from FIGS.4 and 5 which show only the essential operating elements of the devicein two dilferent positions.

As the needles 5, 6 on the needle holder 4 reciprocably move into andout of the openings 44 in the throat plate 30 they sew each of the tworows of fastener elements which constitute the continuous strand 43 toone of the tapes 36 and 3'7. The tapes with the elements attached emergefrom the sewing station as a piece of finished fastener chain 93 the twohalves of which are in interlocking engagement. The finished fastenerchain 93 is drawn from the sewing station by the cooperating pinch rolls91 and 92 which continuously rotate in the directions of the arrows.

The movement of the tapes 36 and 37 through the sewing station thus iscontinuous. The fastener elements 43 are moved through the sewingstation because of the fact that a forward portion of the elements issewn to the tapes and must move with the latter. Feeding of the elementstoward the sewing station is controlled by the feed dog 49.

The feed dog is fixedly mounted on the link 50 the two ends of whichrespectively partake of the continuous movement of the crank pin and theintermittent movement of the cam follower 55. As seen in FIG. 4, the camfollower 55 travels over a cam portion of the disc 56 which raises thecam follower to its highest position, whereby the link 50 raises thefeed dog 49 into its operative position. Because of the circularmovement imparted to the corresponding end of the link 50 by the crankpin 75, the teeth 73 of the feed dog 49 travel in a circular path ofsmaller radius in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4. They movefrom a position in which they are out of engagement with the elements 43and substantially withdrawn from the groove 46 which defines the path ofthe elements, upward into engagement with the elements in the groove 46,and hence forward toward the sewing station. The teeth 73 are thenwithdrawn downward from the fastener elements 43 and moved back towardthe starting position while out of range of the fastener elements.

"intermediate the arm 74 and the sewing station.

The eccentricity of the crank pin 75, and the dimensions of the link 50and of the elements cooperating with it are selected in such a mannerthat the fastener elements 43 are fed toward the sewing station forcombination with the tapes 36 and 37 at the desired ratio for properspacing of the elements on the tape. The resilient locking arm 74 urgesthe fastener elements 43 against the bottom of the groove 46 when thefeed dog 49 is withdrawn.

Engagement of the sprocket 57 by one of the drive dogs 94 on the chain59 causes angular displacement of the cam disc 56. The cam follower 55drops from the position shown in FIG. 4 to that seen in FIG. 5. The feeddog 49 is thereby withdrawn into an inoperative position in which theteeth 73 cannot engage the fastener elements 43 during cyclic movementof the crank pin 75. Feeding of the strand of slide fastener elementstoward the sewing station is stopped, and the portion of the strand ofelements above the feed dog 49 is clamped to the bottom of the groove 46by the arm 74.

The sudden downward movement of the cam follower 55 and of the connectedarm of the lever 65 causes the other arm of the lever to be raisedsuddenly, and the cutting blade 71 severs the strand of fastenerelements The severed forward end is drawn into the sewing station andsewn to the tapes there. The rearward portion is immobilized until thecam follower 55 is raised again to the position shown in FIG. 4 by thenext drive dog 94 passing over the sprocket 57, whereupon forwardfeeding of the fastener elements toward the sewing station is resumed.

Since tape feed and sewing proceed continuously, there emerges from thepinch rolls from time to time a length of fastener chain the tapes ofwhich do not carry fastener elements. When the continouus chain is thencut across these lengths, individual pieces of fastener chain with freetape ends are obtained. The length of the chain portions having fastenerelements mounted thereon, and the length of the gap between these chainportions on which no elements are sewn is determined by the spacing ofthe drive dogs 94 on the chain 59, and may be altered simply either bychanging the positions of the dogs 94 on the chain 59, or byinterchanging several chains having differently spaced dogs.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosurerelates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it isintended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of theinvention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do notconstitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention setforth in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to be protected by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a device for producing slide fastener chain having a continuouselongated carrier and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows ofinterlocking fastener elements secured to said carrier, a support; asewing station on said support; first feeding means on said support forcontinuously feeding a continuous carrier through said sewing station;and second feeding means on said support for successively feeding rowsof slide fastener elements to said sewing station along a predeterminedpath for sewing of said rows to said carrier in longitudinally spacedrelationship at said sewing station, said second feeding means includingfeed dog means movable into a position of engagement in a first portionof said path in a transverse direction, said feed dog means when in saidposition being adapted to engage the elements of a continuous strand ofsaid rows of slide fastener elements; cutting means on said supportmovable toward and away from said path at a second portion thereofintermediate said first portion and said sewing station for cutting saidcontinuous strand of slide fastener element rows; and actuating meansfor actuating movement of said feed dog means into said position ofengagement in said path and along the same toward said sewing station,and for thereafter withdrawing said feed dog means from said path, andfor actuating movement of said cutting means toward and away from saidsecond path portion in time sequence.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said actuating means moving saidcutting means toward said second portion of said path when said feed dogmeans are withdrawn from said first portion of said path.

3. In a device as set forth in claim 1, locking means engageable withsaid elements for locking movement thereof at said first portion of saidpath, when said feed dog means is withdrawn from said path.

4. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said actuating means including arotary cam member, and cam follower means cooperating with said cammember for actuating said movements of said feed dog means and of saidcutting means in a predetermined sequence.

5. In a device as set forth in claim 4, drive means for intermittentlyrotating said cam member.

6. In a device as set forth in claim 5, said drive means including acontinuously moving chain member; sprocket means secured to said cammember for rotation therewith; and entrainment means on said chainmember for engaging said sprocket means at predetermined intervals so asto intermittently rotate said cam member.

7. In a device for producing slide fastener chain having a continuouselongated carrier and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows ofinterlocking fastener elements secured to said carrier, in combination:

(a) a sewing station;

(b) first feeding means for continuously feeding a continuous carrierthrough said sewing station;

(c) second feeding means for intermittently feeding slide fastenerelements to said sewing station along a predetermined path for sewing ofsaid elements to said carrier, said second feeding means including (1) afeed member movable transversely of a first portion of said path towardand away from a position of engagement with a continuous strand of slidefastener elements in said path, said feed member when engaging saidstrand being adapted to move the elements thereof along said firstportion;

(d) cutting means movable toward and away from a second portion of saidpath intermediate said first portion and said sewing station for cuttingsaid strand; and

(e) actuating means for actuating said movement of said feed membertransversely of said first portion and said movement of said cuttingmeans in timed sequence, said actuating means including (1) a timingmember (2) drive means for actuating continuous moveof said timingmember,

(3) a motion transmitting member connected to said feed member and tosaid cutting means for joint movement therewith, and

/(4) a plurality of entrainment means mounted on said timing member forcontinuous movement therewith toward and away from said motiontransmitting member said entrainment means being spaced from each otherin the direction of movement thereof, and projecting from said timingmember toward said motion transmitting member for selective entrainingengagement therewith when adjacent said motion transmitting member.

8. In a device as set forth in claim 7, said timing member being acontinuous elongated timing chain, and said drive means includingsprocket means, said timing chain being trained over said sprocketmeans.

9. In a device as set forth in claim 8, said entrainment meansprojecting from said chain transversely of the direction of elongationthereof.

10. In a device as set forth in claim 7, said motion transmitting memberbeing rotatable and formed with circumferentially spaced recessesengageable by said entrainment means for rotating said motiontransmitting member.

11. In a device as set forth in claim 7, means for actuating movement ofsaid feed member along said first portion of said path while said feedmember engages said strand of slide fastener elements.

12. In a device for producing slide fastener chain having a continuouselongated carrier and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows ofinterlocking fastener elements secured to said carrier, in combination:

(a) a sewing station;

(b) first feeding means for continuously feeding a continuous carrierthrough said sewing station;

(c) second feeding means for feeding slide fastener elements to saidsewing station along a predetermined path for sewing of said elements tosaid carrier, said second feeding means including (1) a feed membermovable transversely of a first portion of said path toward and awayfrom a position of engagement with a continuous strand of slide fastenerelements in said path, said feed member when engaging said strand beingadapted to move the elements thereof along said first portion;

((1) cutting means movable toward and away from a second portion of saidpath intermediate said first portion and said sewing station for cuttingsaid strand; and

(e) actuating means for actuating said movement of said feed membertransversely of said first portion and said movement of said cuttingmeans in timed sequence, said actuating means including -(1) a timingmember,

(2) drive means for actuating continuous movemovement of said timingmember,

(3) a rotatable motion transmitting member formed with circumferentiallyspaced recesses,

(4) a rotary cam secured to said motion transmitting member,

(5) a cam follower engaging said cam and connected to said feed memberand to said cutting means for joint movement therewith, and

(6) a plurality of entrainment means mounted on said timing member forcontinuous movement therewith toward and away from said motiontransmitting member,

(7) said entrainment means being spaced from each other in the directionof movement thereof, and projecting from said timing member toward saidmotion transmitting member for selective entraining engagement with saidrecesses when adjacent said motion transmitting member.

13. In a device for producing interconnected elongated slide fastenerchains having longitudinally spaced rows of interlocked fastenerelements connecting two carriers, in combination:

(a) a sewing station;

(b) first feeding means for continuously feeding two continuouselongated carriers through said sewing station;

(c) guide channel means defining a path of two interlocked strands ofcontinuous slide fastener elements toward said sewing station;

(d) second feeding means for intermittently feeding said interlockedstrands in said path toward sewing station, said second feeding meansincluding (1) a feed dog carrying teeth, and

(2) actuating means for actuating continuous cyclic movement of saidfeed dog from a first position to a second position in a directiontransversely toward a portion of said path, thence in a directionsubstantially along said path toward said sewing station to a thirdposition, and thereafter back from said third station to said firststation in a direction away from said path, and

(3) shifting means for shifting said cyclic movement of said feed dogbetween an operative condition in which said teeth move in said pathwhile said feed dog moves from said second to said third position, andan inoperative position in which said teeth are spaced from said pathwhile said feed dog moves from said second to said third position;

(e) cutting means movable toward and away from a portion of said pathspaced from said third position toward said sewing station for cuttingsaid interlocked strands; and

(f) timing means for initiating said shifting and said cutting in timedsequence,

(1) said sewing station including sewing means for simultaneously sewingsaid interlocked strands to said carriers respectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,369,026 2/1945Dasher 112-262 2,822,770 2/1959 Schwartz 112-2 2,885,774 5/1959 Walde-s112-2 3,054,364 9/1962 Popovitsch 1122 JORDAN FRANKLIN, PrimaryExaminer.

1. IN A DEVICE FOR PRODUCING SLIDE FASTENER CHAIN HAVING A CONTINUOUSELONGATED CARRIER AND A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED ROWS OFINTERLOCKING FASTENER ELEMENTS SECURED TO SAID CARRIER, A SUPPORT; ASEWING STATION ON SAID SUPPORT; FIRST FEEDING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT FORCONTINUOUSLY FEEDING A CONTINUOUS CARRIER THROUGH SAID SEWING STATION;AND SECOND FEEDING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT FOR SUCCESSIVELY FEEDING ROWSOF SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS TO SAID SEWING STATION ALONG A PREDETERMINEDPATH FOR SEWING OF SAID ROWS TO SAID CARRIER IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACEDRELATIONSHIP AT SAID SEWING STATION, SAID SECOND FEEDING MEANS INCLUDINGFEED DOG MEANS MOVABLE INTO A POSITION OF ENGAGEMENT IN A FIRST PORTIONOF SAID PATH IN A TRANSVERSE DIRECTION, SAID FEED DOG MEANS WHEN IN SAIDPOSITION BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE ELEMENTS OF A CONTINUOUS STRAND OFSAID ROWS OF SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS; CUTTING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORTMOVABLE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID PATH AT A SECOND PORTION THEREOFINTERMEDIATE SAID